My Words Have Value Even Without Graphics

As I dip my toe back into the waters of blogging, I’m looking at the conventional wisdom for getting people to read your posts. Don’t make it too long, but also don’t make it too short. Clickbait headlines might be annoying, but they get results. Have section headers to organize your thoughts. Use bullet points to allow people to skim. Oh, and you need to have some sort of graphic to go along with it because people won’t read words unless there are also pictures to look at.

A lot of people rant about the other things, but the last one really annoys me. To be honest, if I’m writing content worth reading then an image shouldn’t matter. Obviously some things will require a photo, or some sort of diagram. Some things. Not everything.

Yes, pictures make the page look pretty. Is that the goal, though? When a graphic helps me to communicate more clearly or adds value, I’ll use it. If you refuse to read something because there are no pictures, though, that says more about you as a reader than me as a writer. I can say that with confidence, here at the bottom of the third paragraph, because I’m sure most of the people that applies to have already clicked on to something else.

Even though I have unlimited storage space with my current web host, there’s a cap on what percentage of those files can be images. If I cared I could probably parse out why this is, or just ask them. It does make adding a unique image to every single blog post problematic, though.

It disturbs me deeply that I have to even think about explaining why my words have value even without graphics. For me it’s now become a filter. This isn’t just about getting people to read my work any more. In many ways, it’s about the sorts of readers that I want. The onus is on my to write better, but the focus is on writing for people who are still willing to actually read.

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After taking a hiatus to deal with some personal and professional necessities, I’m back to blogging regularly! All of the posts will adhere to the theme of simplify – create – thrive and living a simple, productive, and happy life. If you’d like to follow along, add your email to the box on the sidebar (if you’re on a laptop) or down below (on mobile) and hit that subscribe button!

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When I first started with computers all we had were dial-up bulletin boards When I went to college and had access to the internet, this was before the World wide web & graphical web pages. Meaningful content does not require graphics and anyone who remembers the awful early AOL pages knows that graphics can sometimes devalue the content.